UGANDA BIRDING SAFARIS BIRD WATCHING SAFARIS UGANDA

With thousands of bird species, Uganda stands out as Africa’s best and most thrilling birding safari destination. Being a landlocked country, Uganda falls at the confluence of a number of regional centres of endemism (phytochoria) or biomes, each characterized with distinct African sought-after avifauna species. Its supreme biodiversity lies in its range of habitats which don’t only attract birds but also with the glamour of large mammals in immense wilderness.

 

Uganda boasts of more than 1010 species of birds distributed in its wide range of habitats. Uganda’s rich birdlife exists in the Guinea-Congo Forests with 144 species of birds restricted to it, Lake Victoria Basin with 12 species, Afro tropical Highlands with 87 species, Somali-Masai with 32 species and Sudan and Guinea savanna with 22 species. Due to this diversity of physiognomic characteristics, Uganda ranks among the richest countries in bird species in Africa in relation to its size, with over 1010 species so far recorded.

 

 

UGANDA BIRDING SAFARIS

We offer several bird watching safaris in Uganda. These trips take you to various places with plenty of birds. These include;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top Birding Destinations in Uganda

There are several exciting destinations in Uganda that make it a haven for bird watchers. These places include forests, wetlands and savanna areas hosting diverse bird species.

 

FOREST HABITATS

Uganda has a large area adjoining the Congo Basin rain forest on its western boarder. Therefore there are a number of west and central African bird species occurring in Uganda that are not found elsewhere in East Africa. One particular region is the Albertine Rift Endemic area, which has 38 species of birds confined to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo. Of these Endemics, Uganda has 25, mostly confined to the forests of Semliki, Mgahinga and Bwindi National Parks in the southwest these include the Green breasted Pitta, Grauer’s Rush Warbler as well as the African green Broadbill. There are more than 700 forest reserves in Uganda and in the large forests of Kibale, Budongo and Mabira, many forest birds reside therein. It is an exciting challenge watching the forest birds as visibility may be poor so most times you have to figure them out mainly from calls.

 

WETLANDS
Uganda has 30,000 square kilometers of wetlands. Over 200 species, ranging from the Shoebill and African Skimmer to the endemic Fox’s Weaver, are found in these wetlands. More to the above are four Papyrus endemics; the Papyrus Gonolek, Papyrus Canary, White-winged Warbler, Papyrus Yellow warbler and a White winged Black Tern roost of 2-3 million birds in the Entebbe area (Lutembe bay) and Mabamba Bay Swamp.


SAVANNAHS

In Uganda savannahs vary from the remote, semi-desert, dry thorn-scrub region of Karamoja (Kidepo) in the northeast, to the richer fertile savannahs of the western rift valley. Queen Elizabeth National Park has a bird list of 604 species, the highest for any protected area in Africa. In the grasslands, birds are plenty and easy to see and while other animals are on the ground, Vultures fly high and look down to the open plains for a dead one to feast on yet the terrestrial birds like the Guinea fowls, Quails and francolins run nervously into nearby grasses and thickets to escape the raptors- Eagles, Hawks and Buzzards circling above.

 

Click here for a listing of Uganda's top birding destinations